Forum | Violence & Democracy in Latin America

This talk focuses on two regions: Urabá, a drug and human smuggling transit region in the north, and Putumayo, a coca producing area in the south, to understand the different forms of non-state governance that operate in the country. It outlines how both licit and illicit economic practices in each region produced and contributed to the varied hybrid governance structures that operate in these regions.

The analysis provides a framework for considering both what drives different forms of governance in Colombia’s regions but also will enables scholars to disaggregate the dynamics the underlie disjunctive democracy, violence pluralism, and grey areas in Latin America more broadly.

"Illicit Governance on Colombia’s Frontiers"
Desmond Arias (PhD, The University of Wisconsin) is the Marxe Chair in Western Hemisphere Affairs and Professor at Baruch College, CUNY. His research focuses on security and politics in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is author of Criminal Enterprises and Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro: Trafficking, Social Networks, and Public Security (University of North Carolina Press, 2006).

"Bootstrap Justice: The Search for Mexico’s Disappeared"
Janice Gallagher (PhD, Cornell University) is assistant professor of Political Science at Rutgers University-Newark. Gallagher is interested in how everyday citizens respond to violations of their rights, and examines how social movements, state institutions and other non-state actors affect judicial accountability and human rights compliance.

"Resisting Extortion: Victims, Criminals and Police in Latin America"
Eduardo Moncada (PhD, Brown University) is assistant professor of Political Science at Barnard College. Within his research agenda, Moncada is interested in understanding the political factors that shape the dynamics and consequences of urban violence and local democracy and development.